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I had reluctantly given up on the idea of seeing Shawn and Jonathan Lewis's BLACK DEVIL DOLL on the big screen, as the original listings made it clear that I would be forced out of town on a business trip on the very same day on which BDD was scheduled to close out the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco (June 18th).

But whaddya know... turns out there were two OTHER screenings. One on June 6th... nope, couldn't make it (dammit). Oh, and one on the 13th.

Well, June 13th is a special day for several reasons. Its original significance to me was that June 13th, 1979 marked the debut episode of Rich Koz's soon-to-be-legendary "horror host" show, first known as SON OF SVENGOOLIE. You know the drill--Koz is still going strong today AS Svengoolie, and he is the number one reason I wanted to be a horror host myself. And if you're counting, then you realize that this particular June 13th marked Sven's THIRTIETH anniversary.

And whaddya know again... I had no way of knowing it at the time, but June 13th was also the birthday of Lisa Thompson... known today as Lisa Dallmann! Yep, the Sven-iversary is also my wife's birthday!

Now, what are the odds that Lisa would want to spend her birthday being dragged to San Francisco and subjected to the outrageous, non-PC extremes of BLACK DEVIL DOLL? Hmm... what if Shawn HIMSELF were there? We hadn't seen Shawn in eight years (when Shawn was kind enough to entertain my wife while I toiled in Pasadena dealing with the Fango FLESH EATERS nightmare). How does that sound for a birthday present? Hook up with Shawn and HIS lovely wife and take in HIS movie this time around?

I didn't have to ask twice. Question was, would we even recognize each other? I wouldn't have my trademark beret and/or hook hand, after all... had Shawn ever even seen me WITHOUT a hat? And would HE look the same?

As if we should have worried--the Roxie isn't exactly a gigantic theatre (but it was packed all the same), and we caught Shawn and Rebecca in the lobby right off the bat.

Wow. Two old friends--joined by their wives and talking about their children, family life, etc. over a modest but thoroughly tasty and filling meal (Shawn didn't even want me to treat, but I insisted, explaining that HE was part of Lisa's birthday present and that he deserved a congratulatory treat for his accomplishment even if that WEREN'T the case).

Oh, yes. His accomplishment.

BLACK DEVIL DOLL, if you haven't gotten the hint, is every bit as outrageous as you've been led to believe--and then some. And yet those who purport to be offended tend to be the ones who haven't actually seen it for themselves. Hey, if sex and gore offend you, then you have no business sitting through such a film no matter WHAT the theme might be... and if you're going to take something like BDD as a serious commentary on race relations and/or political correctness, then I'll be happy to steer you to alternate material that you SHOULD seriously consider.

You know the drill--horny, psychotic, murderous black militant hits the electric chair at the precise moment that an uber-buxom 'airhead' type starts to play with a Ouija board (solo). ZAP! Her white ventriloquist dummy doll gets an instant makeover as it becomes the new receptacle for the dead militant's soul. Utterly hysterical pandemonium ensues as the Black Devil Doll professes his undying love for his rescue--but demands copious amounts of side action all the same. Oh, and there's a jealous rapper boyfriend known as White-T.

How dare I run through the set pieces? Let me just tell you that even when I thought I had seen everything this film could possibly throw at me (I laughed, I rolled my eyes, I spotted all the in-jokes--and the deliberate attempts to out-trash STREET TRASH itself), came a moment that made me literally double over, rock back and slap my hands over my face. Hint: It wasn't the more explicit version of something you already saw Chucky do in SEED OF CHUCKY... it involved the Black Devil Doll confronting the problem of getting through a closed door when he couldn't reach the knob on his own.

Before that, two people left the theatre, accompanied by Shawn's raucous cheers. A few more people left as soon as the end credits started, thus missing quite a bit more (involving Shawn himself!). But almost everyone stayed for a fun Q&A afterwards (Jonathan Lewis could not attend, so Shawn bravely tackled the crowd).

And the thing is, Shawn didn't even have to be there. He'd handled the premiere a week ago--this was just a 5PM screening in the middle of the festival. He and Becky were there for US, and I can't tell you how much we appreciate that.